Orange County Democratic activist B. Sears Hunter dies

Friday

Feb 27, 2009 at 2:00 AM

Blooming Grove — Some time in 1942, Capt. B. Sears Hunter, not yet 30 years old and a yankee from New York, took charge of an all-black tank battalion in the deeply segregated South. He was not unfamiliar with prejudice — the story goes that his mother forced him to sit next to the only African-American student in his school near Blooming Grove while growing up — but the experience in the South was nothing like he'd ever experienced before.

BY JOHN SULLIVAN

Blooming Grove — Some time in 1942, Capt. B. Sears Hunter, not yet 30 years old and a yankee from New York, took charge of an all-black tank battalion in the deeply segregated South. He was not unfamiliar with prejudice — the story goes that his mother forced him to sit next to the only African-American student in his school near Blooming Grove while growing up — but the experience in the South was nothing like he'd ever experienced before.

Hunter died Thursday morning at his home. He was 95.

But the time in Texas while leading his black troops defined his life, his daughter Cathy Hunter said. Every time his men went on leave, the story goes, one or a few of them would get arrested for infractions such as buying a beer at the local bar or stepping up to theater window to buy a ticket. The battalion never saw battle, another result of skin color, she said he told them.

"When he said goodbye to those men, he promised that he would make a difference," said Cathy, one of Hunter's three daughters who survive.

He also leaves his wife of 65 years, Maryphyllis. Their daughters and two sons will hold a memorial and reception for him at noon March 7 at the United Church of Christ on Route 94.

After World War II, Hunter would return to New York to become one of the Hudson Valley's first prominent liberal activists. A retired Newburgh attorney, his activism spanned more than half a century, taking such forms as pro bono legal work for the indigent or incarcerated, political leadership on the town and county Democratic Committees, and leadership of the Orange County Human Rights Commission, which he helped establish.

"He was one of the trailblazers in the (Democratic) party," said Jonathan Jacobson, head of the party's county leadership, which Hunter led from 1961 to 1970.

Hunter's political views put him at odds with the majority of Orange County residents of his time. He ran and lost for both district attorney and state Senate, but never lost hope, Jacobson said. "The only way you can get ahead in Orange County is to be a Democrat," Jacobson said Hunter once told him.

It took almost four decades for that saying to hold true. Democrats have finally reached parity with Republicans in the county Legislature, and Hunter's own nephew Stephen Hunter was appointed county surrogate court judge in May.

Sears Hunter felt especially blessed to see the election and inauguration of President Barack Obama, Cathy Hunter said: "It was one of the reasons, I think, he stayed alive."